Bushnell University

EUGENE, Ore. –  The No. 19-ranked Bushnell women's volleyball team closed out the Bushnell/Corban Tournament on Saturday against a pair of teams receiving votes in the preseason NAIA national coaches poll as they defeated Columbia International (South Carolina) in five sets before ending their five-match winning streak in four sets against Taylor University (Indiana).
 
Bushnell 3, CIU 2 (25-16, 24-26, 20-25, 26-24, 15-11)
 
The Beacons outscored the Rams 93-68 in their first match of the day, pulling out a hard-fought five setter behind a .302 attack. "I am really proud of the way we competed against CIU," said head coach Jason Corwin. "They really challenged us and made us make some matchup changes. Knowing that we can do that and get a great response from the team gives the coaches a ton of confidence that this group is ready to play in an circumstance.
 
Amyah Semau led the way hitting .367 as she collected a season-high 22 kills, just one shy of her career best, while adding 13 digs for the double-double. The Beacons other left-side attacker Taya Blankenship was just as effective, hitting .355 with 14 kills and a team-high 20 digs. Teagon Dixon added 13 kills on the right side.
 
Bushnell out-blocked the CIU 8-6, getting five from Jerzie Bair who also earned nine kills, while Carly Hanna posted four blocks and four service aces. Emma Fa'alogo led all players with 35 assists and posted 12 digs while Avery McCallister (pictured) added 30 assists and 12 digs.
 
Corwin said, "Our offense really showed up today. Our setters did a good job of finding the hot hand and spreading the offense around."
 
Columbia International (2-6) was led by 19 kills and four blocks from Zcearia James while Rilee Sturkie led all players with 23 digs.
 
Taylor 3, Bushnell 1 (23-25, 25-21, 27-25, 25-18)
 
The Trojans completed an impressive end to their weekend as they earned two straight true road victories, knocking off No. 5 Corban on Friday night in straight sets, before defeating Bushnell in four on Saturday.
 
Taylor (10-3) hit. 312 in the match, the best by a Beacon opponent this season, and out-blocked Bushnell 7-4.
 
"Taylor is a very good team," said Corwin. "We learned a lot from playing them and we had new players step up and do some good things. Of course we wish the ending would have been different, but the coaches are proud of how the girls fought."
 
The Beacons were playing shorthanded and battled mightily behind senior Jerzie Bair who shifted to Middle Blocker for the first time in five years. She hit a team-best .385 with five kills and led Bushnell with three blocks.
 
Bair said, "Overall I thought we had a great finish to a long week of mostly wins. We gained a lot of momentum heading into conference this week and as a team we are hungry and ready to go."

Blankenship had another strong performance with a team-high 15 kills while Semau finished with her 24th career double-double as she earned 11 kills and 14 digs along with three service aces. Addie Evans, added nine kills, hitting .350 while McCallister earned a team-high 30 assists.
 
"We had a long week of games but we still managed to play hard and keep in good spirits," said McCallister. "We have great team chemistry and I am excited to see where this season leads us."
 
For the Trojans, Margo Hernandez ran a smooth offense with five players earning at least 19 swings apiece as she averaged over 13 assists per set with 54. Her favorite target was Reagan Klieman who led all players with 18 kills while Mackenzie Rogers added 17. Ruther Anderson finished with ten kills and a match-high five blocks.
 
UP NEXT: With the non-conference portion of the schedule in the rear-view mirror, the Beacons (5-2) dive head-first into the gauntlet of the Cascade Collegiate Conference. First up, a highly anticipated home clash with No. 5 Corban (7-2) on Wednesday night at 6:00 pm. Then on Thursday the team will head north to Portland, taking on Warner Pacific (0-0) at 6:00 pm.